Hi all, We have been on the farm for about 2 months now, and we are really doing well. I have the garden in, the dog pen built, and we have 7 rhode Island Reds that are about 13 weeks old. My question is when will our lone rooster start to crow? He is really full of himself already and loves to get on top of the coop and stretch to his full height. We really love it here, just as I knew we would. Next step is to get some rabbits. Thanks so much for all the help that I get here. Love to all, Susan n' Emily in Tn.

-- Susan and Emily ,TN (animalcrackers55@hotmail.com), June 22, 2001

Answers

I have three 3 mos. old Rhode Island Red roosters. One of them started crowing at 2 months, and the other 2 have been crowing for a couple weeks now. I would guess that your rooster will crow within a month.

-- Mary S. (1deal@quik.com), June 22, 2001.

Expect to get a chuckle out of his first few attempts;)

-- mary, in colorado (marylgarcia@aol.com), June 22, 2001.

I've had roosters crow as early as two months, and one stubborn fellow who didn't crow unitl he was about 15 weeks old.

You might want to forget about hearing the rooster crow at daybreak - my rooster thinks daybreak is around 3:30 am!

-- Lee (bantlette@yahoo.com), June 22, 2001.

Susan,

There sure does seem to be a lot of variety in crowings. Out of 7 roosters, all but about 3 were crowing by 12 weeks. The one that is with our little hens hasn't crowed yet either, and they are 4 months old now. (I'm rather hoping he never bothers) One of the other roosters out in the fattening pen isn't crowing yet. He seems to have figured out that as soon as they crow, somebody is out lighting the grill and someone else is sharpening the ax.... I wonder who told??? LOL.

-- Marty (Mrs.Puck@Excite.com), June 22, 2001.

Hi Susan and Emily, it is nice to see people interested in there animals. I have been raising rhode island reds for over 16 years and here is some advice. In order to train a rooster to crow the best way is to put him into a nice size box with not too much room but enough he is able to breathe comfortably and that is DARK. Put him in over night and then in the moring turn him loose in to your pen or yard. If you do this regularly he will shortly get the picture. This is just one of the many ways of helping or coaxing your rooster to crow.. It may seem odd or to some cruel however for bird shows and rooster contests it is the best method we use! Good Luck!

-- SHERI LANDGRAF (sheriann@telusplanet.net), June 22, 2001.

Probably not what you meant. but your rooster will start to crow about an hour before sunrise. That's why our chicken area of the barn is as far from our bedroom as possible. GL!

-- Brad (homefixer@SacoRiver.net), June 23, 2001.

Far too early and way too long :-)

-- Mary R. (cntryfolk@ime.net), June 23, 2001.

About 1:30 or 2am, with a full moon. I LIKE poultry, but the idea of locking them overnight in a shed which is not only safe and secure but also light-proof has a lot of appeal.

-- Don Armstrong (darmst@yahoo.com.au), June 24, 2001.